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It's easy to forget that Julian Assange is still cooped up inside London's Ecuadorian embassy. The WikiLeaks founder entered the building back in June 2012 to escape extradition and ever since, Metropolitan Police officers have been stationed outside, waiting patiently just in case he ever decides to leave. It might not sound like the most costly operation, but over the years it's racked up quite a bill for the UK government. Earlier this month the Met revealed that policing the embassy had cost an estimated £9 million up until October last year. That equates to roughly £10,500 per day --- and if you project that forward, it means the entire affair has now crossed the £10 million mark. Of course, this is all merely an approximation, but it further highlights the costs involved in the Assange affair. Last summer, the man himself revealed that he would be leaving the embassy "soon," but since then there's been no sign of his imminent departure. Unless his health or legal circumstances change, the bill for the UK government is only going to increase.

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Assangecostsecuadorian embassygovernmentJulian AssangepoliceWikileaksThu, 05 Feb 2015 09:54:00 -050021|21139445http://www.joystiq.com/2013/11/19/report-sony-seeking-100-million-in-cuts-includes-job-losses/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Joystiq&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.joystiq.com/2013/11/19/report-sony-seeking-100-million-in-cuts-includes-job-losses/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/11/19/report-sony-seeking-100-million-in-cuts-includes-job-losses/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Joystiq#comments
Sony has hired management consulting firm Bain & Company to identify $100 million in cuts, Bloomberg reported. The cuts would reportedly include job losses, though how the cuts to the company's costs would divide out among its entertainment divisions is unknown.

The report follows a second quarter loss reported by Sony of ¥19.3 billion ($197 million). As of its late October financial report, the company said it expects to ship 15 million PS3 and PS4 systems combined, with SCEA boss Jack Tretton recently projecting three million PS4 consoles sold by year's end. Sony did manage to sell one million PS4 units in the system's first 24 hours on shelves; Whether that factors in to the reported job losses remains to be seen.

Hardware market research firm iSuppli has released a new report that claims the cost-per-device of an iPad mini sporting a Retina display screen could be fairly high: as much as $12 or more. Even if all of the other parts stay the same price, just adding a Retina display in the iPad mini's size, iSuppli's report suggests, would bring Apple's cost above $200, which would likely mean higher costs for consumers as well.

Which doesn't seem all that impossible -- the current iPad mini is selling quite well at $329, and you have to think that potential purchasers would be happy to spend a bit more for a full Retina display. Plus, if Apple really needed to shave some of that margin off just to boost sales, it probably could (though that would be a very un-Apple move, and it seems like it'll be a while before the iPad mini needs any extra help). For any other company, $12 per device might be a real problem, but Apple has still has quite a few options to deal with such a high increase in cost.

Not to mention that Apple is always working on its supply costs, so while that may be the price now, the company may be working hard on figuring out a new way to supply and develop smaller Retina displays, or to work out a deal to make them cheaper in general. It's true, putting the Retina display in the iPad mini won't be cheap at the moment, but if anyone can figure out a way to do so without attacking their very high margin, it'll be Apple.

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applecostshardwareiOSiPadipad miniIpadMiniisupplimarginprofitreportretina displayRetinaDisplaysuppliersMon, 18 Feb 2013 18:00:00 -050016|20466202http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/06/what-do-venture-capitalists-see-when-they-look-at-games/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Massively&ncid=rss_semi
http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/06/what-do-venture-capitalists-see-when-they-look-at-games/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/06/what-do-venture-capitalists-see-when-they-look-at-games/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Massively#commentsKickstarter has gained a great deal of traction lately, but by and large new games are still funded the same way they've always been funded: by venture capitalists willing to shell out money in hopes of seeing a return on investment. That being said, the games industry looks at venture capitalists more as fountains of money than actual people, a necessary evil at best. A new piece penned by Jeremy Liew of Lightspeed Venture Partners sheds some light on what goes on behind the scenes when capitalists are approached for funding.

Liew makes a point of mentioning that one of the features he looks for is the idea that the studio can turn out another good game after the first one, mentioning CCP Games and Jagex as both lagging behind. He also points out the power of community, noting that League of Legends gained much of its current popularity by completely taking over the DOTA community. While the piece is focused on gaming as a whole rather than just MMOs, fans of video games will no doubt find several points of interest within the full article.

Andy Rubin has already made it known that Google isn't planning to profit from the Nexus 7's hardware -- according to him, it's being sold at cost. However, a teardown conducted by TechInsights (and reported by Fudzilla) suggests that the true extent of our 'discount' may have been underplayed, because the Nexus 7's parts alone reportedly add up to around $184. That's just $15 below the current asking price for an 8GB model, before you even get to all the added costs like packaging, distribution, support, marketing and the tidy $25 Google Play voucher that comes as part of the bundle. Now, these figures may not be reliable, because who knows what deals Google and ASUS managed to negotiate, but still, it's further evidence (in case you needed it) that this tablet makes for a smart purchase.

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asuscomponent costsComponentCostscomponentscostcostsdiscountgooglegoogle nexus 7GoogleNexus7hardwaremanufacturingnexus 7Nexus7profit marginprofit marginsProfitMarginProfitMarginstablettabletsteardowntechinsightsMon, 09 Jul 2012 08:29:00 -040021|20273975http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/24/the-soapbox-credible-currency/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Massively&ncid=rss_semi
http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/24/the-soapbox-credible-currency/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/24/the-soapbox-credible-currency/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Massively#commentsDisclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column.

With all of the other crises hitting the gaming world, it's easy to have missed the fact that Lord of the Rings Online has started selling statted gear in the cash shop. It's not endgame gear, of course, and it's mostly there for low-level players to get a minor boost. Really, as has been said by others, it's not something all that unusual, nor is it game-breaking in the slightest. It's just a convenience thing.

I don't have an issue with the sale of low-level armor with stats on it, in Lord of the Rings Online or in other games. What I do have an issue with is the matter of credibility, the one currency that every company starts with and loses over time. Credibility is something you have to spend carefully, and every so often, a company spends it wrong. And the results, in the long term, are never pretty.

The town of Cornelius, NC has launched a new program designed to cut down on paper use in the town's government facilities, and the linchpin of this program is none other than Apple's tablet, the iPad. According to the local Herald Weekly paper, the town passed out iPad 2s to commissioners at a recent board meeting, and plans to use the devices for sharing agenda packets, budget information, and everything else you need to run a small town, without printing any of it out.

The whole plan seems surprisingly well thought out -- the town actually ran a trial of the program with just three iPads, and the paperless agenda plan has been set up for quite a while now. It was relatively cheap, too -- the town has only spent $5200 on the iPads (not counting some document sharing software previously purchased), and fully expects to make that money right back up in saved time and paper costs.

Pretty impressive move, and of course this means the town commissioners also get to use Apple's magical and revolutionary device during meetings (though they should probably keep the Angry Birds off of government property, just in case). We've seen iPads used in a professional setting before to great effect, and here's another situation where Apple's product is not only better for a few reasons, but actually cheaper as well.

[via Gigaom -- but the town is not in Colorado, it's in North Carolina]

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businesscoloradocorneliuscostsgovernmentiOSiPadpaperpaperlesstownThu, 30 Jun 2011 17:30:00 -040016|19980851http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/28/ask-massively-a-public-service-announcement-regarding-acronyms/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Massively&ncid=rss_semi
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Ladies and gentlemen, I come to you with an earnest and heartfelt plea: Know what acronyms stand for if you insist upon using them. ATM is an acronym that includes the word "machine," ditto for PIN and the word "number." If you ask someone to enter his PIN number, you sound like an idiot. The whole reason that people started using these acronyms was to save time, and now you're ruining it. Get a clue. Love, everyone in the world who knows what these acronyms actually mean. (P.S., we don't really love you.)

Now that we've gotten the public service announcement out of the way, it's time for this week's Ask Massively, which we'll try to keep as free of acronyms as humanly possible. This week's questions are all about the Benjamins -- why we're getting charged full price for boxed games and how subscription-optional prices shake down over the long term, specifically. As always, you can send questions for next week in to ask@massively.com or leave them in the comments below.

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ask-massivelybusiness-modelscostsf2pfeaturedfree-to-playopinionpricepricingsubscription-optionalThu, 28 Apr 2011 20:30:00 -0400319|19924597http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/24/report-3ds-components-cost-about-100/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Joystiq&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/24/report-3ds-components-cost-about-100/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/24/report-3ds-components-cost-about-100/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Joystiq#commentsUBM TechInsights has done a teardown of the Nintendo 3DS and marks the total cost of the system's hardware at $101. That's $15 more than the DSi was reportedly made for, though the 3DS also includes a 3D screen and a gyroscope, along with other enhancements.

Retailers are selling the 3DS for $250, but that's not all markup -- there are marketing, research and other charges associated with a console release, and everyone in the supply chain has to take their own cuts, of course. Still, Nintendo is likely making a profit on every unit sold, which is exactly as expected (and what it did with the Wii). Even before you start talking about games and licensing, Nintendo is making sure there's some money rolling back its way from day one.

A few European publishers have heard from Apple about subscription arrangements on the App Store, and they're not happy at all. The agreement isn't that surprising -- just as with the current setup in iTunes for software developers, Apple is asking that all subscriptions go through them, and that they take their usual 30 percent cut. But that has European publishers quite angry -- not only is the price higher than they want to pay, but they say it's because Apple will cut them out of access to things like subscriber demographics and other inside information that they'd have if they ran subscriptions themselves.

All fair points. Apple definitely doesn't want to "lose control" of any possible in-app subscriptions, and since it already controls access to the App Store, these publishers are at Apple's whims anyway. If publishers try to run a subscription scheme Apple doesn't agree with, their apps likely won't stay on the App Store for long.

Of course, the real meter here is The Daily -- while it got a nice reaction at launch, if that model doesn't prove itself to be profitable or workable, publications may not bother with the App Store anyway. Even if they don't run apps through Apple's subscription channels, there's still Mobile Safari and conventional paywalls.

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applecostseuropeaniPadnewspaperpublisherssubscriberssubscriptionMon, 07 Feb 2011 17:00:00 -050016|19832756http://www.joystiq.com/2010/11/19/marvelous-caps-3ds-game-development-at-1-8m-per-title/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Joystiq&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.joystiq.com/2010/11/19/marvelous-caps-3ds-game-development-at-1-8m-per-title/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/11/19/marvelous-caps-3ds-game-development-at-1-8m-per-title/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Joystiq#comments
During a recent investor call, Marvelous Entertainment, the publisher best known for its Harvest Moon games, revealed its budget range for 3DS game development. According to the transcription of the call's Q&A session (as translated by 1UP), a Marvelous representative said that, "while costs vary based on game content," the company would spend an estimated ¥50 million to ¥150 million ($600K to $1.8M) on the development of a single 3DS game. Currently, Marvelous has two 3DS projects in the works, a Harvest Moon game and a zoo sim called Animal Resort.

Not surprisingly, Marvelous' 3DS spending money is significantly higher than the ¥4.4 million to ¥43.9 million per title (roughly $50K-525K) Japanese companies spent on developing (regular) DS games last year, according to data gathered by TGS sponsor and promotional organization CESA. More interestingly, Marvelous' ¥150-million cap for a 3DS game represents a figure more than double the cost of the last year's most expensive Japanese PSP title, which, while unnamed, cost ¥59.2 million to develop by CESA's account. (The cheapest PSP game cost its maker just ¥3 million.)

If Marvelous' budget is indicative of other companies' 3DS game costs -- and, certainly, some of these guys are likely to splurge -- then developing for the platform could prove more expensive than for Wii, where last year's most expensive Japanese project topped out at ¥116 million. In an era when budget gaming is dominating the handheld market, and following the disastrous combination of costly PSP game development and rampant piracy, the 3DS could be as ill-fated as the 3D technology that requires you to wear glasses.

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3dsanimal-resortbudgetcesacostsdevelopmentdsharvest-moonharvest-moon-3dsmarvelousmarvelous-entertainmentnintendoFri, 19 Nov 2010 19:00:00 -050011|19726720http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/18/microsoft-to-spend-one-billion-dollars-advertising-kinect-and-wi/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi
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Microsoft's serious about making Kinect a success. A $500 million kind of serious. That's the latest report, courtesy of the New York Post, on the change Steve Ballmer and company intend to drop to make sure that every living and breathing creature in the US knows about the controller-free controller this holiday season. That mirrors earlier analyst estimates placing the Windows Phone 7 marketing budget at a similar figure, which in total would amount to a cool billion dollars in advertising expenditure. We already know Microsoft's scooped the Old Spice Guy for WP7, but Kinect is getting the extra special carpet bombing treatment with Burger King, Pepsi, YouTube, Nickelodeon, Disney, Glee, Dancing with the Stars, People and InStyle magazines, and even Times Square all having a role to play in spreading the word. Yup, it's gonna be pretty hard to miss it.

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ad budgetAdBudgetadsadvertisingadvertising budgetAdvertisingBudgetadvertsballmerbudgetcostsexpensesexpensivekinectluxurymarketingmccann ericksonMccannEricksonmicrosoftmicrosoft kinectMicrosoftKinectmotion gamingMotionGamingone billion dollarOneBillionDollarpromotionrichspendingsteve ballmerSteveBallmersteven spielbergStevenSpielbergwindows phone 7WindowsPhone7wp7Mon, 18 Oct 2010 10:07:00 -040021|19678136http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/13/fcc-set-to-approve-rules-compelling-carriers-to-alert-you-when-y/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/13/fcc-set-to-approve-rules-compelling-carriers-to-alert-you-when-y/http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/13/fcc-set-to-approve-rules-compelling-carriers-to-alert-you-when-y/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget#comments
Politicians do love themselves a sharp and emotive turn of phrase, of which few are as good as "bill shock." That's the term the FCC has used to sum up all those instances when you've had unexpected surcharges on your monthly wireless bill, caused by unknowingly going outside the bounds of your geographical coverage or monthly allowance. Seeing this issue as something it could help alleviate, the Commission set up a Consumer Task Force back in May in an effort to seek out solutions, and now it has returned with perhaps the most obvious one: getting your network operator to shoot out a voice or text message warning you when you're about to incur costs outside of your normal plan. That's basically what AT&T already does with iPad owners approaching their monthly data limits, which the federales see as a good practice that should be extended across all carriers. We can see no good reason why it shouldn't.

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billbill shockbillingbillsBillShockcarrierschargescostcostsfccfederal communications commissionFederalCommunicationsCommissiongovernmentJulius GenachowskiJuliusGenachowskimobile carriersMobileCarriersnetworksoperatoroverageoveragesregulationsregulatorrulesususawarningwarningsWed, 13 Oct 2010 03:10:00 -040021|19671745http://www.tuaw.com/2010/10/05/analyst-apple-has-created-overwhelming-lead-for-ipad/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=TUAW.com&ncid=rss_semi
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Now, let's be honest: the burgeoning tablet market is not a race. But if it was, says analyst Chris Whitmore of Deutsche Bank, the iPad would be winning. We're going to see quite a few tablet devices come to market before all is said and done, including the Blackberry PlayBook and products from manufacturers like Dell, Microsoft, and maybe Google. Even after those other tablets come out, Whitmore says the iPad's lead is going to be tough to overcome quickly, if ever. "We expect the slew of upcoming competition to fall flat from a user experience standpoint while struggl[ing] to materially undercut the iPad on price," Whitmore reported.

User experience is a no-brainer -- that's something Apple has always done well, and it's arguable that the iPad is its finest hardware from an accessibility standpoint. But price is something else; Apple has made deals and even manufactured its own chip to create the tantalizing mix of performance and cost found in the iPad. Other manufacturers will have trouble doing the same, especially with the lead Apple already has. According to Whitmore, the App Store has also given Apple a head start on applications, deals with media companies have brought big-name content to the platform, and a slew of competition versus Apple's one-device strategy will create problems for anyone attempting to climb the tablet mountain.

That's not to say that there can't be another successful tablet, it's just that if anyone wants to have another iPad, they've got a lot of work ahead of them. That's not surprising -- Apple has already reaped the benefits of its early grab at a tablet-style computer, and there are much more earnings where those came from.

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analystappleblackberrycomponentscostsiPadmarketproductstabletTue, 05 Oct 2010 07:00:00 -040016|19660716http://www.tuaw.com/2010/08/18/has-the-iphone-app-market-already-crashed/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=TUAW.com&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/08/18/has-the-iphone-app-market-already-crashed/http://www.tuaw.com/2010/08/18/has-the-iphone-app-market-already-crashed/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=TUAW.com#commentsAt GDC Europe earlier this week, Bigpoint CEO Heiko Hubertz claimed that the iPhone app market "has already crashed. You cannot sell your game for 99 cents and expect a return." Apple has said that developers are collectively making more than a billion dollars on the App Store, but Hubertz knocks that figure down a few notches, suggesting that because there are over 250,000 actual apps on the store, no one developer is making enough to cover the development costs of any game worth making.

Is he right? In a sense, he is -- it's already pretty clear that for a number of reasons, prices have raced to the bottom on the App Store. And while the audience is still growing (people are buying more and more iPhones every day), so is the pool of developers and apps. While there are definitely some runaway hits, the average developer isn't going to see profits that will keep an EA-level game afloat.

That said, the market certainly hasn't "crashed." Apple wanted an app ecosystem that anyone with a Mac and some knowledge and time could join, and that's what they've got -- a developer who puts a worthy amount of time and talent into an app, with some help and promotion from sites like ours, can likely turn over a profit, if not make a good amount of money. Sure, the App Store's not very friendly to big budget producers, but that's probably not what Apple wanted in the first place anyway.

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app storeAppStorebigpointcostsdevelopmentecosystemgdcheiko-hubertziPhoneitunesmarketmoneyprofitsWed, 18 Aug 2010 18:00:00 -040016|19598950http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/07/18/star-trek-online-adds-more-c-store-options-and-controversy/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Massively&ncid=rss_semi
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There's a pattern that seems to repeat itself every time Cryptic adds new items to Star Trek Online's C-Store -- or at least, a sequence of events wherein players are at first excited, then angry or annoyed when the prices are revealed. A bunch of new items have been added to the store: two additional costume slots (not on the website at the moment), two additional ship slots, and two additional bridge officer spots. The trouble arises with the handling of the upgrades, particularly with the new costume slots, as they're counted on a per-character basis.

A similar upgrade is available in the store for Champions Online, for the exact same price -- but it increases the number of costumes available on every character rather than just the character it's purchased on. The per-character upgrades, coupled with a reduced importance for costumes in Star Trek Online, all help make many players feel a bit shorted by the price tag. Others are arguing that the add-on is only $2.50, an argument that's gone on at length on the official forums. Controversy is nothing new to the game, but this much debate over a fairly minor item leads one to be a bit curious about what reception future items might find.
[Update: Cryptic has contacted us with news on upcoming changes to this system, "We're going to change the way the costume slot purchases work so they become account-wide rather than per-character. And, of course, our customer service department will be able to assist anyone who purchased the upgrade multiple times to cover multiple characters."]

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ataric-storechampions-onlinecocontroversycostscostumescrypticcryptic-star-trekcryptic-studiosforumsin-game-storemicrotransactionspriceprice-concernspricesst-onlinestar-trekstar-trek-mmostar-trek-onlinestotrek-onlineSun, 18 Jul 2010 20:00:00 -0400319|19558886http://www.tuaw.com/2010/06/02/will-we-pay-more-for-magazines-on-the-ipad/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=TUAW.com&ncid=rss_semi
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Business Insider has a post up from AdAge about magazine pricing on the iPad, and they've got bad news for anyone planning to transfer all of their magazine subscriptions to Apple's magical device: It'll cost ya. While a year's worth of Popular Mechanics goes for $12 from the publication's website (or even cheaper if you can pick it up from Amazon or that random kid wandering your subdivision selling subscriptions), the iPad subscription will cost $29.95; that's over twice as much. You can buy a year's worth of Wired on Amazon for just $10, but one issue on the iPad costs you half of that.

Why? At first, the cost seems like a ripoff; publishers don't have to pay for paper, ink, or postage, so you'd think the content should actually be cheaper. Then you calculate in the cost of interactive designs and features, researching new technologies, and creating new workflows, and creating an iPad version of the magazine starts to get more expensive. Throw in that publishers are wary of pricing their content too low, and you get a higher price than a print subscription -- which plenty of readers will probably pay anyway.

That's a pretty fragile pricing state, though; e-books are already cheaper than their print versions, and while comic books are the same price in the store as they are on something like the Marvel application, you have to think that those prices will drop too. As usual, early adopters will pay the most, but I wouldn't be surprised to see the price of "e-magazines" drop as publishers and consumers alike even out the rough edges of the transaction.

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amazoncostsdesignsinkiPadmagazinespricesprintingWed, 02 Jun 2010 11:00:00 -040016|19499100http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/08/ipad-component-cost-re-estimated/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=TUAW.com&ncid=rss_semi
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Now that the iPad is actually out and we know what's in it, iSuppli has adjusted its guesstimate for the actual price of the hardware to US$259.60. That's significantly more than the original estimate that was made a while back; iSuppli says that the iPad uses more silicon chips than expected, including three separate chips to control the touchscreen itself. That price is the 16GB Wi-Fi model (that retails for $500); the higher memory models obviously cost more (up to $348.10 for the 64GB Wi-Fi model).

Still, Apple is making a solid profit on the per-unit price. There's no question that the iPad will make money no matter what, but there are tons and tons of other factors to include in this. On the flip side of the equation, this price doesn't include shipping out iPads to all of Apple's various stores, money to pay employees, and of course, all of the backend software and hardware design that went into actually creating these devices in the first place. Of course, in terms of profit, the price that you pay for the device at checkout is just the beginning; there's a lot of money also flowing over the App Store, and in iBooks and so on. Just looking at the hardware costs won't get you very far. Apple has money moving all over the place around this device.

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applechipscostsdesignhardwarehardware-costsipadisuppliprocessorssiliconsoftwareThu, 08 Apr 2010 16:30:00 -040016|19430378http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/26/the-cost-of-apples-products-adjusted-for-inflation/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=TUAW.com&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/26/the-cost-of-apples-products-adjusted-for-inflation/http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/26/the-cost-of-apples-products-adjusted-for-inflation/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=TUAW.com#comments
A site called VoucherCodes recently tried to figure out if the $499 entry-level iPad really is as good a deal as many have claimed. They analyzed the cost of several of Apple's products, adjusted for inflation, and some of the results are pretty astonishing.

The first Apple computer ever created, the Apple I, cost $666.66 in 1976. Adjusted to 2010 dollars, that Apple I would cost $2,540, which isn't too bad. But the Apple Lisa, Apple's first stab at creating a computer with a Graphical User Interface, cost $9,995 in 1983, or a staggering $21,745 in today's dollars. Sure, the GUI was a cool bit of innovation, over $20,000 for a personal computer?

Comparing the iPad to previous Apple portables is even more interesting. Apple's first portable computer cost $6,500 in 1989 -- which would be almost $11,400 today -- while the $699 Newton from 1993 would cost nearly $1,050 in today's dollars. Most intriguing of all is that the first iPod, released for $399 in 2001, cost $488 in today's dollars. That's just $11 under the cost of the iPad, a device that has far more storage, processing power, and access to more features than the first iPod could even dream of only nine and a half years ago. Apple's handhelds are cheaper than ever, even when you bring inflation into the mix.

Within my lifetime alone, computers have gone from luxury items and objects of curiosity, something people would have to save several months of paychecks in order to buy, to something people buy on a whim, for a week's pay, and carry around with them in their pockets. It's not surprising that the cost of computers has come down over time, but when charts like the one at VoucherCodes drive home just how much prices have dropped in terms of the real value of the US dollar, it's pretty amazing.

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appleapple iapple lisaAppleIAppleLisacomputercostsgraphical-user-interfacehandheldsinflationiPadportablesFri, 26 Mar 2010 18:00:00 -040016|19416298http://www.tuaw.com/2010/01/19/kevin-rose-demos-square-payment-system-for-iphone/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=TUAW.com&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/01/19/kevin-rose-demos-square-payment-system-for-iphone/http://www.tuaw.com/2010/01/19/kevin-rose-demos-square-payment-system-for-iphone/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=TUAW.com#commentsDigg's Kevin Rose is the newest investor in this Square iPhone payment system that we've been seeing lately, and as you can see above, he's demo'ed the unit for everyone over on YouTube. It works as we've heard: there's just an addon that you plug into the iPhone's headphone jack, and then an app takes information from the swiper, and transmits it out for an actual credit card payment, with a finger doing the signature. The app, as Kevin says, will even upload GPS information, so you can make sure that payments are happening in the right place.

Unfortunately, what he doesn't mention is the actual price to get payments up and running. Square's website says that there's "no contracts, monthly fees, or hidden costs," but they've got to pay for the system somehow, so you'd expect there to be a fee for setup, for the accessory, and then a fee per charge through the system, but we haven't heard what any of those will end up being yet.

Depending on how steep they are, this could be a gamechanger -- accepting payments anywhere, any time, with an online record and receipt for each one, no cash involved. Would be incredible for small business owners, and probably a lot of other sales folks, too.

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businesscccostscredit cardscreditcardCreditCardsiphonekevin roseKevinRosemoneyonlinepaymentsmall bizSmallBizsquaresystemtransactionwebsiteTue, 19 Jan 2010 17:30:00 -050016|19322710http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/15/droid-more-valuable-than-nexus-one-or-iphone-3gs-according-to-is/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/15/droid-more-valuable-than-nexus-one-or-iphone-3gs-according-to-is/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/15/droid-more-valuable-than-nexus-one-or-iphone-3gs-according-to-is/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget#commentsAh, here we go again: another report from iSuppli breaking down the bill of materials (BOM) for one of our favorite smartphones. This time it's the Droid / Milestone under scrutiny, Motorola's beefcake slider that currently sells for $560 month-to-month on Verizon ($199 on contract). According to iSuppli's analysis, Droid brings a $187.75 bill of materials that breaks down into $179.11 worth of components and $8.64 in manufacturing costs. Naturally, the BOM does not include licensing fees, software costs, accessories, or the massive outlay this device has received in advertising support. Nevertheless, it makes for interesting apples-to-apples fodder when comparing costs with the Nexus One ($174.15 in materials only), iPhone 3GS ($178.96 materials and manufacturing), and original Palm Pre ($138 materials and manufacturing). The single most expensive component on the Droid is the 16GB removable microSD card ($35) bundled with the Droid. And after a controversial MOTO report that demonstrated a lackluster capacitive touchscreen on the Droid, it's interesting to compare the Droid's 3.7-inch TFT LCD ($17.75) and capacitive touchscreen overlay ($17.50) with that of the iPhone 3GS ($19.25 spent on a smaller 3.5-inch LCD and cheaper $16 touchscreen overlay) and Nexus One (whopping $23.50 for 3.7-inch AM-OLED display and $17.50 for the touchscreen assembly). Rounding out the top-end costs are the Droid's 5 megapixel autofocus CMOS sensor ($14.25), Qualcomm baseband processor / RF chip ($14.04), and TI application processor ($12.90).

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bill of materialsBillOfMaterialsbomcostcostsdroidisupplimanufaturingmotorolaverizonFri, 15 Jan 2010 03:04:00 -050021|19317938http://www.tuaw.com/2010/01/11/macbook-prices-around-the-world/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=TUAW.com&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/01/11/macbook-prices-around-the-world/http://www.tuaw.com/2010/01/11/macbook-prices-around-the-world/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=TUAW.com#comments
While researching MacBook Pros, the folks at cmyplay produced an infographic charting the relative prices of MacBook Pros around the world. The variation is amazing.

The lowest cost was found in the US ... mostly. Certain models cost less in Hong Kong, but as the author notes, that could be due to exchange rate fluctuations. Prices were significantly higher in South Africa. For example, an entry-level 13" MacBook Pro 2.26GHz in South Africa retails for about the same prices as a mid-level 15" MacBook Pro (2.53GHz) in the US. Note that Apple does not have official representation in South Africa.

However, the highest prices were found in Brazil (where Apple does have official representation). As cmyplay notes, "For the amount to purchase a top-of-the-line MacBook Pro 2.8GHz in Brazil, a person could buy two of the same machine in the US." One Brazilian commenter noted that Brazil's import duties and sales tax, especially on electronics, is very high.

Good work, cmyplay! Your graphic is beautiful and offers a perspective we might not otherwise have considered. Make sure you visit the post to see the full image.

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costsinternationalmacbook proMacbookProretailMon, 11 Jan 2010 14:00:00 -050016|19311944http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/09/nexus-one-hardware-costs-174-15-us-multitouch-still-priceless/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/09/nexus-one-hardware-costs-174-15-us-multitouch-still-priceless/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/09/nexus-one-hardware-costs-174-15-us-multitouch-still-priceless/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget#comments
If, while perusing the Nexus One teardown, you were doing a mental tally of just how much each internal part may cost, here's your chance to compare your numbers to some professionally obtained figures. iSuppli reports a preliminary estimate of $174.15 for the cost of materials needed to build each handset. The research firm also congratulates Google on keeping a bill of materials comparable to most recent smartphones while having "the most advanced features of any smart phone ever dissected by iSuppli's Teardown Analysis Service." Costliest of all things was the 1GHz Snapdragon ($30.50), followed by the AMOLED display ($23.50) and memory ($20.40) from Samsung. The Bluetooth and 802.11n WiFi transceiver cost $8.20, and perhaps the most egregious spend was $12.50 on a 5 megapixel camera that many of us might never use. Hilariously enough, Google has spent $17.50 on what is clearly identified as a "capacitive multitouch touchscreen assembly" from Synaptics, though enabling it clearly remains a bridge too far.

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bill of materialsBillOfMaterialscostcostsgoogleisupplimanufacturemanufacturingmaterialsnexusnexus oneNexusOnesmartphoneSat, 09 Jan 2010 11:45:00 -050021|19310159http://wow.joystiq.com/2009/12/16/shipping-costs-removed-from-authenticators/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=WoW&ncid=rss_semi
http://wow.joystiq.com/2009/12/16/shipping-costs-removed-from-authenticators/http://wow.joystiq.com/2009/12/16/shipping-costs-removed-from-authenticators/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=WoW#comments
We'd already noticed last week that the Authenticators in the US store had gone free shipping, but now official updates on Blizzard's site say it's true in the EU as well. American authenticators still cost $6.50, but you no longer have to pay anything extra for shipping, and EU authenticators have had their price dropped to €6.99. That's still over $10, but they're at least cheaper than they used to be. There's a drawback, however: apparently they went with cheaper shipping, because you can no longer track shipments of authenticators, and shipping will take a little longer (up to 15 business days in the US). Which makes sense, given that you want these things as cheap as possible.

Ancilorn answers some other Authenticator questions as well -- there's no discount for buying multiple units at all; what you see is what you get. And while the only authenticator for purchase at the moment is the Corehound branded unit, there may be more art available in the future, and of course you don't need a Corehound-branded Authenticator to get the Corehound Pup pet. Any Authenticator will do that, including any of the authenticators made for mobile phones, as long as it stays attached to your account. Whew -- that should answer all the questions anyone has. As we said the other day, if you don't have one of these yet, it's probably time to look in to getting one. Not only will your account be more secure, but you'll get that free pet as well.

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authenticatorblizzardbusiness-dayscheapcorehound-pupcostseueurospricesshippingusWed, 16 Dec 2009 19:00:00 -050099|19284017http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget#comments
Nothing really new here -- the ESRB has been charging a nominal fee to get its saucy logos on your game for years upon years now -- but the discussion of fairness has recently surfaced with the introduction of Sony's UMD-less PSP Go. A few game developers are voicing concerns about the amount the ESRB charges (we're hearing around $2,500) in order for their titles to receive a rating, particularly when those very same titles don't have such a costly requirement in Apple's App Store. Subatomic Studios, for instance, can charge $2.99 for the iPhone version of Fieldrunners, while the same game is priced at $6.99 on the PlayStation Store. Naturally, the ESRB would love to get in on App Store ratings, but it's hard to say just how long (if ever) that cracking process will take. So, any of you devs put off by the ESRB fee? Put off enough to sidestep PSP Go development altogether?